Teen reading challenge from Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White and Waldenbooks Sign up in the Media Center by Oct 15. Read four or more of the twenty-five books on the suggested reading list before April 1 to: enjoy new books, plus get a signed certificate of completion from Jesse White, Illinois Secretary of State and earn a discount coupon to use at Waldenbooks.

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READ FOR A LIFETIME
2005-2006 BOOKLIST

Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging 247 pgs Louise Rennison

Presents the humorous journal of a year in the life of a fourteen-year-old British girl who tries to reduce the size of her nose, stop her mad cat from terrorizing the neighborhood animals, and win the love of handsome hunk Robbie.

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The Battle of Jericho 304 pgs Sharon Draper

A high school junior and his cousin suffer the ramifications of joining what seems to be a "reputable" school club.

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Becoming Anna: The autobiography of a Sixteen-year-old 262 pgs Anna J. Michener

This is the autobiography of Anna Michener, who suffered physical and emotional abuse behind closed doors at the hands of her parents and grandmother. She was made the scapegoat for her family's many problems and was institutionalized in mental hospitals more than once. At the age of 16 she found a new family and her own voice and wrote this text as an early step toward recovery. The account is of growing up under unspeakable conditions, not of mature reflection but rather an immediate account of unhealed wounds.

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Breathing Underwater 224 pgs Alex Flinn

Sent to counseling for hitting his girlfriend, Caitlin, and ordered to keep a journal, sixteen-year-old Nick recounts his relationship with Caitlin, examines his controlling behavior and anger, and describes living with his abusive father.

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Catherine Called Birdie 169 pgs Karen Cushman

The thirteen-year-old daughter of an English country knight keeps a journal in which she records the events of her life, particularly her longing for adventures beyond the usual role of women and her efforts to avoid being married off.

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A Child Called It 195 pgs David Pelzer

This book chronicles the unforgettable account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games--games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mother's games in order to survive because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave; and no longer a boy, but an "it." He had nothing or no one to turn to, but his dreams kept him alive--dreams of someone taking care of him, loving him and calling him their son.

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Cut 136 pgs Patricia McCormick

While confined to a mental hospital, thirteen-year-old Callie slowly comes to understand some of the reasons behind her self-mutilation, and gradually starts to get better.

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Eragon 528 pgs Christopher Paolini

In Aagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters. Eragon is followed by the sequel Eldest.

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Esperanza Rising 262 pgs Pam Munoz Ryan

Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression.

 

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The First Part Last 144 pgs Angela Johnson

Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father and must care for his adored baby daughter.

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Handbook for Boys 179 pgs Walter Dean Myers

Sixteen-year-old Jimmy, on probation for assault, talks about life with three old men in a Harlem barbershop and hears about the tools he can use to get what he wants.

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High Heat 277 pgs Carl Deuker

When sophomore Shane Hunter's father is arrested for money laundering at his Lexus dealership, the star pitcher's life of affluence and private school begins to fall apart.

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How Angel Peterson got his Name 160 pgs Gary Paulsen

Author Gary Paulsen relates tales from his youth in a small town in northwestern Minnesota in the late 1940s and early 1950s, such as skiing behind a souped-up car and imitating daredevil Evel Knievel.

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A Girl's Life Online [also published as: Katie.com] 196 pgs Katherine Tarbox

Thirteen-year-old Katherine Tarbox never thought she would invite a sexual predator into the bedroom of her Connecticut home. This is the true story of one teenager's descent into the seductive world of the Internet.

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In 1906, sixteen-year-old Mattie, determined to attend college and be a writer against the wishes of her father and fiancé, takes a job at a summer inn where she discovers the truth about the death of a guest.  Based on a true story.

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Prey 367 pgs Michael Crichton

Deep in the remote Nevada desert, eight people are trapped inside of the Xymos Corporation by a rapidly evolving swarm of predatory molecules that have massed together to form a powerful and intelligent organism that is targeting its creators.

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Romiette and Julio 236 pgs Sharon Draper

An African-American girl and a Latino boy fall in love after meeting on the Internet, but they are harassed by a gang who objects to their interracial dating.

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Say Goodnight Gracie 214 pgs Julie Reece Deaver

When a car accident kills her best friend Jimmy, with whom she has shared everything from childhood escapades to breaking into the professional theater scene in Chicago, seventeen-year-old Morgan must find her own way of coping with his death.

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Son of the Mob: Hollywood Hustle 272 pgs Gordon Korman

Eighteen-year-old Vince Luca, son of mob boss Anthony Luca, goes away to college in southern California hoping to escape his past, but soon his brother and a series of "uncles" appear at his dorm, and before long he is caught up in criminal activity once again. Sequel to the hilarious Son of the Mob.

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State of Fear 624 pgs Michael Crichton

An eco-thriller takes readers to such far-flung locales as Paris, Iceland, Antarctica, and the Solomon Islands.

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Suzannes Diary for Nicholas 320 pgs James Patterson

Kate Wilkerson found her perfect man at last, then one day, without explanation, he disappears leaving behind only a diary for her to read. The diary is written by a new mother for her baby son, Nicholas. Soon it
becomes clear to Kate that the man who left is the husband and father in this young family.

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The Secret Life of Bees 301 pgs Sue Monk Kidd

After her "stand-in mother," a bold black woman named Rosaleen, insults the three biggest racists in town, Lily Owens joins Rosaleen on a journey to Tiburon, South Carolina, where they are taken in by three black, bee-keeping sisters.

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The Teachers Funeral 190 pgs Richard Peck

In rural Indiana in 1904, fifteen-year-old Russell's dream of quitting school and joining a wheat threshing crew is disrupted when his older sister takes over the teaching at his one-room schoolhouse after mean, old Myrt Arbuckle "hauls off and dies."

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A Thousand Acres 371 pgs Jane Smiley

Larry Cook, an Iowa farmer who has worked a thousand acre plot owned by his family for generations, abruptly decides to leave his farm to his three daughters and retire. His two eldest daughters are pleased with the decision but his youngest daughter has been cut out by her father and is angry. As the daughters' activity on the land progresses, they notice a change in their father. Events begin to unfold that will threaten and destroy the family and their farm.

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Trapped: The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster 240 pgs Karen Tintori

On November 13, 1909, a fire trapped 480 coal miners--men and boys--400 feet below ground in a mine at Cherry, Illinois. Only 221 escaped. Not until the following March were the bodies retrieved and buried. Hundreds of women were widowed and nearly 500 children were orphaned in what was the worst coal mine fire in U.S. history. The author's grandfather survived by a quirk of fate describes the life-and-death struggle of the miners below ground and the terror of the women and children gathered at the mine's entrance, praying for their loved ones.